Energizing Illinois
Reid Porter
Posted July 28, 2015
Our series highlighting the economic and jobs impact of energy in each of the 50 states continues today with Illinois. We started the week with a look at North Dakota. All information covered in this series can be found online here, arranged on an interactive map of the United States. State-specific information across the country will be populated on this map as the series continues.
As we can see with Illinois, the energy impacts of the states individually combine to form energy’s national economic and jobs picture: 9.8 million jobs supported and $1.2 trillion in value added.
Click on the thumbnail to bring up a two-page snapshot of energy’s benefits to Illinois.
The top-line numbers: 263,700 jobs supported statewide, according to a PwC study issued in 2013; $33.3 billion added to the state economy; $15.7 billion contributed to the state’s labor income.
Page 2 of the document highlights that, in Illinois, crude oil exports represent one of the most promising economic opportunities of the shale revolution. These exports could create more than 10,030 jobs and contribute an additional $990 million to Illinoisan incomes.
When added up across all of the states that can benefit from exports, nationally, LNG and crude exports could significantly reduce our trade deficit, increase government revenues, grow the economy, and support millions of U.S. jobs in engineering, manufacturing, construction, and facility operations.
Energy is critically important to Illinois, serving as a key engine for the state economy – expanding job opportunities and offering the hope of prosperity to individual Illinoisans and their families.
The future benefits of energy for Illinois – and the rest of the country – largely depend on national decisions on the country’s energy path. A new Wood Mackenzie study contrasts the benefits that a set of pro-development policies could have on energy supplies, jobs, the economy and American households with the likely negative effects on energy of regulatory constrained policies. The key comparisons are found on the first page of the linked document.
Energy is essential for all facets of our daily lives, from powering national, state and local economies to powering the family vehicle. Safe, responsible development of domestic oil and natural gas resources is linked to individual prosperity, energy security and basic liberties.
About The Author
Reid Porter is a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute. Before joining API, he worked as Account Supervisor at Edelman. Porter double majored in English Literature and the Spanish language at Middlebury College in Vermont. He enjoys traveling, cheering for the Green Bay Packers, soccer, rereading Hemingway novels and spending time with family.